He has been arrested over claims he "swopped" speeding points with fellow footballers so one of them could beat a driving ban.

He faces up to six years in prison if found guilty of perverting the course of justice along with fellow players Bobby Zamora and Shaun Newton.

Sheringham, 41, whose 68-year-old father Paul is a retired policeman, has just received an MBE for services to football.

Detectives are understood to have begun investigating the three men after one is said to have been caught pretending to be the driver of a car caught on a speed camera.

It is thought two of the players were trying to arrange a cover-up to help the real offender avoid

receiving three points on his licence, which would have put him over the 12-point licence limit and led to an immediate driving ban.

A woman has been arrested by police investigating the alleged speed camera scam, which involves three Premiership footballers.

It later emerged that Metropolitan Police officers have arrested another nine people in connection with the investigation.

No further details of who they are or when they were arrested were immediately available.

Scotland Yard said the arrests related to allegations that motorists had falsely claimed that another person was driving their car when they were caught by a speed camera.

Yesterday Sheringham's lawyer Henri Brandman said: "For the avoidance of possible doubt, my client has not been charged with any offence. He categorically denies the allegation that has been made.

"He has cooperated with the police. No further statement will be made by my client, his agent or I."

Sheringham was arrested on May 15 when he and Mr Brandman went to Chingford police station in East London by prior appointment and the player was questioned.

Two days later 31-year-old Shaun Newton - who like Sheringham has recently been released by Premiership side West Ham - was arrested at his home in Epsom, Surrey.

He drives both a BMW convertible and a Mercedes 4x4.

The third arrest came last Wednesday when West Ham striker Bobby Zamora was held at his home on the Isle of Dogs in East London.

Police also arrested an unnamed woman at her home in Morden, Surrey, on June 8.

The investigation came after a civilian police worker reportedly spotted an image from a speed

camera and believed the driver was not the person accepting the points, possibly because Sheringham is white and the other two are black.

Police then looked into previous speeding fines for all three players.

There are dozens of websites showing drivers how to avoid bans.

Professional drivers such as cabbies who have exceeded the speed limit have successfully pleaded "exceptional hardship" if banned.

But magistrates have been told to clamp down on this loophole. Although it let drivers claim they could lose their jobs or homes if banned, they were not allowed to use it more than once every three years.

Last night police said: "A 41-year-old man was arrested on May 15 on suspicion of perverting the course of justice when he attended, by appointment, an East London police station.

"He was bailed to return in July pending further inquiries. It is alleged he gave false details regarding an alleged

speeding offence."

Zamora, 26, and Newton were also bailed until next month as part of an "ongoing traffic investigation."

Sheringham, who recently split from ex-Miss England Danielle Lloyd, 23, has had a distinguished 23-year career. After starting with Millwall he moved to Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest before playing a key role in Manchester United's 1999 treble.

He scored in the FA Cup final and the Champions League final but is currently without a club, although he is said to want to keep playing.

Recent figures show that more than a million motorists in Britain are three points away from losing their licences - up 215,000 in the past 15 months.

A further five million have six points on their licence and ten million drivers - one in five - have some kind of points penalty.

Two-million drivers each year are caught speeding, many of them by Britain's 6,000 speed cameras.

Sixty-two per cent of drivers want to see cameras replaced with other measures to improve road safety.